ASTON Villa manager Graham Taylor is backing giant striker Peter Crouch to make an impact on the Barclaycard Premiership - even though he has yet to find the net.
The 6ft 6ins forward - signed from Portsmouth for £4.5million at the tail-end of last season - has caused problems for defences with his general play in both the Intertoto Cup and early Premiership matches.
He has, though, been guilty of squandering a series of gilt-edged chances and has yet to repeat for Villa the finishing power which brought him 19 goals for Portsmouth in the First Division last season.
But Taylor has been full of admiration for the way Crouch has refused to hide when the opportunities have gone begging and has kept bouncing back with a steely determination to eventually succeed.
Now Crouch will be looking to finally break this season's duck in Sunday's Premiership match at Bolton after playing a part in the build-up to Darius Vassell's winner against Manchester City on Wednesday.
Taylor said: "He will score goals and the worrying thing would be if you suddenly stopped seeing him have efforts on target.
"Any striker will tell you that you are going to go through a period of time when the ball doesn't go into the net for you.
"What do you do then? Do you hide? Peter certainly doesn't and he had the most shots again for us. It was the same against Liverpool and Tottenham, and the ball hasn't gone in for him.
"But I would be more worried if he stopped having a go. Towards the end against Man City he attempted a pull down and a volley from 20 yards out which went well over the bar. But I'd be more concerned if he stopped doing things like that. He will come good in terms of goals."
Taylor, who completed the signing this week of former Manchester United defender Ronny Johnsen, has made it clear he intends to develop a team spirit after the turmoil of the summer.
The Villa boss has also spelt out in no uncertain terms there will be no place in the dressing room for transfer-seeking defender Alpay if he fails to secure a move before transfer deadline day.
Taylor, who is still trying to sign Leicester midfielder Muzzy Izzet, said: "The spirit that the players have shown in all three games belies the fact that there may be some sort of disruption in the camp.
"There simply isn't. I want a dressing room that is committed to this club and we are getting it.
"We know this is a results orientated business and if you lose the first two games and are then 0-0 at half-time then people are going to boo you.
"You walk through it. You don't take too much notice of that. I don't because I know there's a job to be done. You hope that the players also appreciate that, but they know what they are capable of doing."
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